Covet
by LeaGar108
Summary: A man can't be too careful in the choice of his enemies, nor can a woman of her lovers. What happens when caution is thrown to the wind, and desire turns deadly?
1. Chapter 1

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Eleanor Elisabeth Stone. I lived a century ago on a small farm in Texas with my parents and two brothers, it was there that we raised horses, chickens, and cows and then sold them to slaughter houses in order to make a living. I was only nineteen at the time. Young, but not incompetent. I had seen no wars, nor had I seen a man die. But I knew the difference from right and wrong, and I knew that's what mattered.

It was dawn; the horizon to the east was just beginning to layer itself into the usual bright shades of yellow, pink, and orange. A cool breeze came from the north, bringing with it the pure scent of rain. I had woken early, so I had time to waste before starting my daily chores. I absentmindedly wandered through the tall grass of the fields for some time until I reached the clearing, signally the edge of my land. I lied down on the cool ground, looking up toward the sky, making shapes out of each new cloud that formed. I was just beginning to make a rabbit out of one of the clouds with I heard the chickens start to get restless.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." I called out to no one in particular as I crawled back up to my feet. As I headed to the stables, I marveled at how beautifully the sun played off my surroundings. My walk seemed to drag on, but I could hear the horses just up ahead and I knew I didn't have far to go. A forest grazed the trail I walked; the trees loomed threateningly above, sighing in the gentle breeze. My ears detected a faint murmur in the forest to my left. My eyes flickered to the thick trees and I struggled to see through the darkness. From the shadows appeared two incandescent eyes, though they appeared the eyes of a man, the color was nearing an inhuman crimson hue. Had there been any onlookers they would have seen nothing more than a man, but this was no man. Though he towered above me, I could see him plainly. His eyes bored into me as if he were trying to see through me, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase, "If looks could kill." He stood only a few yards from me as he took slow deliberate steps out of the darkness and into clear view. His skin was paler than any human's I had ever seen before, as if he'd been locked inside a windowless room for years. The bit of morning light that shone down on him caused his skin to dance with it's own light which, in turn, displayed just how well built this thing was. Cocking his head to the side, he spoke in a thick, unknown accent, "Well, well. What's a pretty little girl like yourself doing wandering around all alone?" Though my better judgement was screaming in protest, I propped my hands on my hips, holding my ground, "This is my land, and it would seem to me that you are trespassing." He didn't say anything after that but, after what seemed like a small eternity, he took another step toward me and placed his hand on my shoulder. Even with such little contact, I could feel the cool radiating off of his skin, seeping into my own flesh.

My heart danced in my chest and my throat constricted, forcing me unable to string comprehensible words together. Despite the terror exploding through my veins, I stood unable to move even a foot. The thing probed me with it's haunting eyes, a ghastly expression flickering over it's face. I saw him smile and, before I could even grasp what was happening, he removed his hand from my shoulder and lunged toward me. He crashed into me, knocking me to the ground. As I gasped for the air that was lost on impact, he climbed on top of me, capturing my legs beneath his. Beating my fists against his chest, I fought to keep him from what he was about to do, "No, no no, please don't!" My mind wandered, and instantly found home in the memory of my fiance', Peter. We'd been together for two years and were planning an Autumn wedding. Like any young couple in our time, physical contact was taboo before marriage, but we didn't have to try hard to abstain, we both believed that our purity was a gift from God that was never meant to be given away with such disregard. This is why my heart sank as I looked up toward the monster hovering above me. Pinning one arm above my head, the monster moved his free hand to my throat, letting his fingers play along my collar bone a bit before tugging both of my arms down, pinning my wrists under his knees. I could feel the sharp rocks dig into my flesh, no doubt breaking the skin. I watched in protest as he reached into his shirt pocket, retrieving a straight blade razor.

[On to chapter two...]


	2. Chapter 2

A quick flash of horror spread across my face and I begin to thrash underneath him, digging my heels into the dirt and rocks as I frantically tried to budge him in the least bit, "Oh God, please, please don't. I'll do anything, please just..." Tears had welled up in my eyes and began to run down the side of my face by the time he had even seemed to register that I was protesting. He moved the blade closer to me and, as I began to sob uncontrollably, he began to cut away at my embroidered day dress. My cheeks began to grow ablaze as he hovered there, pushing aside the cotton of my dress and staring down at my undergarments. Slithering his hands underneath the lace, he made his way from my thigh to my stomach. Hiking the fabric up he smiled up at me and, without hesitation, sank his teeth deep into the tender flesh of my stomach. I cried out and began to thrash once more, this time with more force - a move in which he, yet again, didn't even seen to notice. He continued and, as I laid there focusing on the warm blood pouring from my wound, I could feel myself growing weaker and weaker by the second. After a few minutes the monster began to blur... and eventually vanished all together.

No sooner had everything turned black that I heard another sound... another monster. Having only my hearing to rely on, I couldn't see what was going on, which only added to my terror. After a while, I heard what I assumed to be an argument break out in a language I didn't understand, and soon I realized the other monster wasn't trying to harm me, it was trying to help me... or at least reserve me for himself. Then suddenly there came a noise that sounded much like boulders crashing into each other. Back and forth, back and forth. I covered my ears in an attempt to cut off my only reliable sense. I could only pray the right one came out victorious when the sound ceased. No more than a second later, I was thrown over a hard shoulder and rushed through, what I suspected to be, the thick underbrush of the forest.

I don't remember much after that. Just the pain. From what I remember my savior and personal angel, appropriately named Gabriel, was the one to see me through my agony and not give into my pleas for a mercy kill. He kept me conscience with conversation, he told me tales of his past and how he came to be, of how he had experienced the very pain I was feeling, and the unbelievable stories of what was in store for me. After what seemed like a lifetime in hell, the pain finally stopped and I was able to see again. Having Gabriel be the first thing my new eyes landed upon was amazing, albeit overwhelming. He was truly handsome; breathtaking, must I go that far to explain. His raven hair cascaded over his shoulders, spilling down his back, framing his all too perfect face. His eyes were different that the other's, a gorgeous topaz color which contrasted well with his shockingly pale skin tone... a skin tone in which I now shared. After letting it all sink in, I rushed to the closest mirror, and it was then that I understood that all of Gabriel's stories hadn't been told to entertain me, they had been preparing me... for this, for what I now was.

A vampire.

I let my eyes play along my new appearance, I was still me only... improved, for lack of a better word. Lifting my shirt - one of Gabriel's, I assumed - I half expected there to be a chunk missing, but it was quite the opposite. My stomach was perfect, yet not the same as it was. The softness my body once possessed had vanished only to be replaced with unearned definition, my previously callused hands were smoother than I could have ever imagined possible, and every curl in my once frazzled hair was only part of my appearance that changed for the worse were my eyes. My normally playful hazel eyes were now replaced with the same crimson eyes that the monster once possessed. Gabriel had explained that these, too, would change in time, if I chose to live like he did. With the itching thirst already building up in the back of my throat, it was obvious that the idea would be easier said than done.

I tried to live like Gabriel at first, overlooking the call of the humans and focusing on the animals, but I eventually let the bloodlust take over. I satisfied my hunger by killing anyone naive enough to follow me into an alleyway...lonely men, common whores, and, if I was desperate, the occasional small child.  
It only took me a few years of killing innocents to realize that what I was doing was wrong and I quickly returned to the teachings of Gabriel. After I fully devoted my life... well, existence... to Gabriel's way, things began to fall into place. A few decades after my life changing decision took place, Gabriel finally decided that I was ready to leave the confinements of the one-room cabin he and I had been sharing for something a little more spacious. Gabriel told me of his second home, a home in Oregon that he had shared with the one who had turned him, and it was there that we decided to make our new life. It didn't take long for Gabriel and I to settle, quite peacefully, in to our new home. It was there in Oregon that I first had the opportunity to meet another vampire family that lived the way Gabriel and I did; obviously being a "vegetarian" wasn't so common among the vampire population, so I assumed that Gabriel was trying to make our chosen way of life a little more tolerable by keeping good company. Anna, Charles, Evelyn, Eugene, and Catherine, simply referred to as, "The Tucker Coven", had created quite a peaceful life for themselves, a life that would have made me envious had I not had Gabriel to keep me company. Speaking to them was like speaking to old friends, there was a feeling of comfort around them that just put your soul at ease - it wasn't until later that Gabriel informed me Eugene was responsible for this.

[On to chapter three...]


	3. Chapter 3

Our friends soon passed and it was once again just Gabriel and I... but, to be honest, I don't think he could have picked out a better life partner if he had tried. I was an entertainer at heart, so we never had to sit through silence as long as I had anything to do with it. Day in and day out Gabriel and I spent our days laughing, mostly at each other, but we never had a frown upon our faces. It wasn't until a hiker happened to wander too close to our land that our routine changed. Gabriel said that if I wanted to live a normal life then I would have to get used to practicing self-control. And, though I had very little contact with humans (well, at least those that I didn't eventually have for breakfast, lunch, or dinner), Gabriel jumped right into the mission. It started with him bringing in a maid. Yolanda was her name and, with skin the color of cinnamon, and eyes as brown as the richest chocolate, she was breathtakingly beautiful. She smelled of lavender and jasmine. After two days, I found out she tasted just as fragrant. Being the angel that he is, Gabriel didn't let this little bump get us down, repeating, "There is no failure except in no longer trying." The second go around he brought in a chef (for lessons' sake), I assumed it was in hopes that the food would somehow mask his scent. And he was right... for the most part. Any time I would get too close, or think too hard, I shoved a basil leaf under my nose, and it would stop me from doing something I would regret later. After a year, Gabriel upped the ante, bringing in another maid, and a gardener...all of which I didn't touch. Though it may have helped that I remained locked inside of my room most of the time. It wasn't until May of the next year that my little piece of heaven... or currently my small slice of hell... decided to push his luck. Gabriel had pulled some strings and secured me a job as a seamstress in a factory near our home. He told me it would be my ultimate test because, though I may have passed the home-based portion, it was an entirely different thing to be around a human for five straight hours; but, showing that he wasn't totally crazy, he explained that most of the women I would be working with were either single or poor, so it wouldn't place us in too much of a predicament if I...slipped. After two years, and no mishaps (which was both to my happiness...and my chagrin), both Gabriel and I fully considered me tamed.

After that, life went right back to being normal again, well, with the addition of a us now having maids and gardeners (we fired the chef, we weren't ones to waste), that switched out every few years. I didn't realize it at the time but it wasn't until after I graduated bloodlust boot camp that I really started to "feel" like a vampire. Before, I was so blinded by my thirst that I wasn't able to truly comprehend everything. All my human feelings were there: anger, jealousy, happiness. But I felt something new, something I hadn't felt in all my years as a human: Lust. Sure, there had been times that Peter had accidentally brushed my body in the right place, or said something that struck a nerve, but I had never wanted...no craved...physical love quite this much. I didn't mention this to Gabriel, mainly because it embarrassed me to high heavens. Every little thing seemed to affect me, something so small as one of the gardeners taking off his shirt when it got too hot, or catching a glimpse of my naked body in the mirror. It was horrible, but I was able to take my mind off things very easily, so I made it years without putting my vampire hormones on display.

It wasn't until one fateful day that my desire took over: Gabriel sat across from me reading a book he'd probably read cover to cover at least twenty times. His jet black hair was tied back, flaunting his flawless ivory skin. The top four buttons on his shirt were unfastened, gaping his shirt open a bit, revealing the beginnings of his, obviously, well chiseled muscles. Sliding my hand over the polyester bodice of my dress, I slid my index finger in between the first and second buttons, working back and forth until they made their way out of their hooks. Sliding down, I did the same with the third and fourth buttons, and watched as the buttoned side slowly bent, and gave way to the weight, folding back onto my chest. Looking down, I saw the lacy trim of my lingerie, and I smiled as I quickly, yet sensually, slid from my chair and walked over to Gabriel - still engrossed in his literature. Without a word, I grabbed a hold of the book, slamming it closed, and tossing it behind me. Finally conscious of the situation, Gabriel looked up to me, taking in my appearance, but still not quite catching on. Using one hand to hike my dress up, I skillfully straddled him on the couch, wrapping both arms around his neck, tugging him toward me and capturing his lips between mine. As my lips explored his mouth, my hands worked their way down to his shirt, nervously trying to finish what was already started. I heard Gabriel sigh and, before I could react, he grabbed a hold of my shoulders, pushing me back, our lips separating at once. Shooting me a glare that would have stopped anyone in their tracks, Gabriel grabbed my hands, ripping them from the two remaining buttons holding his shirt together, and brought them to his chest, where his heart should be, "My dear Eleanor, I offer you my sincerest apologies. It seems that you are mistaken. It is my fault, truly, I seem to have left you in the dark. I understand how you are feeling, trust me, I've felt it to but this..." He looked at the unfastened buttons of my blouse, then at his shirt's similar state. "This is not how I intended our relationship to be. I never meant for you to be my lover, no, quite the contrary, you are my dearest friend, my companion, someone to keep me company, but never in my bed." Reaching up, he stroked my hair, and I all but wanted to run out of the room right then. "Sweet, sweet Eleanor. I wish you nothing but happiness, but this isn't the way you will find it." I could literally feel my cold, dead heart drop at that very moment. The words in my head were so jumbled that I didn't know how to make any sense out of them. Not quite knowing what to do, I pushed myself away from him, sliding down onto the floor. Mind still not functioning, I wasted time by buttoning back up, and wiping the remaining lipstick off of my face, "So...what does this mean? Vampires don't...make love?"

What came next, I didn't expect...

[To be continued...]

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Author's Note:

Please read, review and, assuming that you liked it, pass this along to your friends.  
I haven't received many views - and I refuse to believe it's because I can't write worth a damn,  
hah - so I won't post any more until my views pick up a bit, I don't want to waste my time here.

Thanks and much love,  
Leanna!


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